Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA, November 30, 2011: Members of the Northeast Arkansas Radio Club (NEARC) will be conducting the inaugural Johnny Cash Birthday Celebration Special Event Station on what would have been the late Country Music Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member’s 80th birthday, February 26, 2012 beginning at 12:00pm Central time (1800 hrs. UTC). Area amateur radio operators will solicit over-the-air contacts from other amateurs stateside and internationally for a six-to eight-hour period. Stations making contact with the Special Event Station will receive confirmation of that contact in the form of a commemorative certificate. The Johnny Cash Birthday Celebration Special Event Station will operate under the Special Event call sign N5C.

According to NEARC President Skeeter Nash N5ASH, this will be the first event of this kind undertaken by the organization. “We were looking for an event with a local tie-in, but also one that would have wide-ranging appeal. Considering that Johnny Cash was born in Kingsland, AR, at the age of three moved with his family to Dyess Colony in Mississippi County, then went on to become a musical icon loved the world over, we thought it only fitting that we should conduct this event on the 80th anniversary of his birth.”

Stations will be operating SSB on 80, 40 20 and 10 Meters. Planned frequencies are 3.835, 7.260, 14.260 and 28.330 mHz (+/- 3 kHz). More information can be found at the NEARC website, http://nea-rc.org.

Nash stated at least one—and possibly more—will set up their stations in Dyess Colony, not far from the house where the Cash family once lived. Stations contacting the station in Dyess Colony will receive a special designation on their certificate.

“We’re hoping to make this an annual event,” said Nash. “Johnny Cash never forgot his roots here in northeast Arkansas, and we in the amateur radio community are looking forward to having the opportunity to honor one of the most recognizable figures in music history.”

The Northeast Arkansas Radio Club is a not-for-profit organization promoting growth in the service and hobby of amateur radio. The club owns and operates its own repeater on a frequency of 443.150 mHz, located above the press box at the Arkansas State University football stadium. The NEARC is involved in all aspects of amateur radio, and provides activities for members and their families throughout the year. Club members also provide emergency communication services and amateur license testing.###For more information on the NEARC, email n5ash@arrl.netWebsite: http://nea-rc.org/Facebook: www.facebook.com/nearadioclub

Back in about 1967 I was listening to "11 meters" from Illinois during a band opening and heard an operator who distinctly sounded like Johnny Cash and used the handle "Mountain Man". He said he was located in the hills of Jamaica. Years later I read he actually had a villa in Jamaica. I have no doubt it was him, and he apparently used CB on the road from his motor coach.

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